Functional diversity of fish communities has been measured according to (a) interspecific variability, assuming that intraspecific variability is negligible, or (b) morphological differences, as good descriptors of complex functions, such as diet. These two assumptions have been scarcely tested on the individual level, especially in species-rich tropical ecosystems. Here, we adapted intraspecific specialisation (ISpe) and intraspecific originality indices (IOri) to assess complementary components of intraspecific variability. Next, we applied these indices to evaluate the intra- and interspecific variability of morphological and diet traits in two contrasting Brazilian stream-dwelling fish assemblages (rainforest and savannah). We also compared correlations between morphology and diet at the individual and species level to test whether accounting for intraspecific variability increases the predictability of diet due to morphological differences. Significant contributions of intraspecific variability to differences between fish were revealed for morphology and diet. Intraspecific variability in the diet was higher than that in morphology in both assemblages. The ISpe was positively correlated to IOri in the diet of both ecosystems. The morphological-dietary relationships were significant but weak at both individual and species levels. Our findings highlight the importance of measuring individual variability and accounting for complementary components of the intraspecific variability (ISpe and IOri). Importantly, we showed that the variability in morphology does not predict diet variability at both intra- and interspecific levels. Thus, high intraspecific variability in morphology and diet challenges the use of functional traits measured at the species level to describe the functional diversity of different fish assemblages.

Effects of predation may cascade down the food web. By alleviating interspecific competition among prey, predators may promote biodiversity, but the precise mechanisms of how predators alter competition have remained elusive. Here we report on a predator-exclosure experiment carried out in a tropical intertidal ecosystem, providing evidence for a three-level trophic cascade induced by predation by molluscivore Red Knots (Calidris canutus) that affects pore water biogeochemistry. In the exclosures the knots' favorite prey (Dosinia isocardia) became dominant and reduced the individual growth rate in an alternative prey (Loripes lucinalis). Dosinia, a suspension feeder, consumes suspended particulate organic matter (POM), whereas Loripes is a facultative mixotroph, partly living on metabolites produced by sulfur-oxidizing chemoautotrophic bacteria, but also consuming suspended POM. Reduced sulfide concentrations in the exclosures suggest that, without predation on Dosinia, stronger competition for suspended POM forces Loripes to rely on energy produced by endosymbiotic bacteria, thus leading to an enhanced uptake of sulfide from the surrounding pore water. As sulfide is toxic to most organisms, this competition-induced diet shift by Loripes may detoxify the environment, which in turn may facilitate other species. The inference that predators affect the toxicity of their environment via a multi-level trophic cascade is novel, but we believe it may be a general phenomenon in detritus-based ecosystems.

In analogy to the species-area relationship (SAR), one of the few laws in ecology, the phylogenetic diversity-area relationship (PDAR) describes the tendency of phylogenetic diversity (PD) to increase with area. Although investigating PDAR has the potential to unravel the underlying processes shaping assemblages across spatial scales and to predict PD loss through habitat reduction, it has been little investigated so far. Focusing on PD has noticeable advantages compared to species richness (SR), since PD also gives insights on processes such as speciation/extinction, assembly rules and ecosystem functioning. Here we investigate the universality and pervasiveness of the PDAR at continental scale using terrestrial mammals as study case. We define the relative robustness of PD (compared to SR) to habitat loss as the area between the standardized PDAR and standardized SAR (i.e., standardized by the diversity of the largest spatial window) divided by the area under the standardized SAR only. This metric quantifies the relative increase of PD robustness compared to SR robustness. We show that PD robustness is higher than SR robustness but that it varies among continents. We further use a null model approach to disentangle the relative effect of phylogenetic tree shape and nonrandom spatial distribution of evolutionary history on the PDAR. We find that, for most spatial scales and for all continents except Eurasia, PDARs are not different from expected by a model using only the observed SAR and the shape of the phylogenetic tree at continental scale. Interestingly, we detect a strong phylogenetic structure of the Eurasian PDAR that can be predicted by a model that specifically account for a finer biogeographical delineation of this continent. In conclusion, the relative robustness of PD to habitat loss compared to species richness is determined by the phylogenetic tree shape but also depends on the spatial structure of PD.

Why are marine species where they are? The scientific community is faced with an urgent need to understand aquatic ecosystem dynamics in the context of global change. This requires development of scientific tools with the capability to predict how biodiversity, natural resources, and ecosystem services will change in response to stressors such as climate change and further expansion of fishing. Species distribution models and ecosystem models are two methodologies that are being developed to further this understanding. To date, these methodologies offer limited capabilities to work jointly to produce integrated assessments that take both food web dynamics and spatial-temporal environmental variability into account. We here present a new habitat capacity model as an implementation of the spatial-temporal model Ecospace of the Ecopath with Ecosim approach. The new model offers the ability to drive foraging capacity of species from the cumulative impacts of multiple physical, oceanographic, and environmental factors such as depth, bottom type, temperature, salinity, oxygen concentrations, and so on. We use a simulation modeling procedure to evaluate sampling characteristics of the new habitat capacity model. This development bridges the gap between envelope environmental models and classic ecosystem food web models, progressing toward the ability to predict changes in marine ecosystems under scenarios of global change and explicitly taking food web direct and indirect interactions into account.